I think it's a matter of perspective. I grew up with electric stove, oven, and heating so it was a bit jarring moving to California and suddenly using gas for heat.

OT: After looking at some of the pictures that does look a lot like a gas main explosion. Some of the photos are similar to the 2010 San Bruno explosion: http://www.mercurynews.com/san-bruno-fire. They're still cleaning up the legal mess from that one; turns out the power company knew they had faulty gas pipes and didn't fix them.

I grew up with electric also, and the minute I got ahold of a gas stove for the first time, it was just amazing. "Wow, I turn it on, and I don't have to wait for the heating element to heat up? That's unreal!"

'Twas a cutlass swipe or an ounce of lead
Or a yawing hole in a battered head
And the scuppers clogged with rotting red
And there they lay I damn me eyes
All lookouts clapped on Paradise
All souls bound just contrarywise, yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!

I grew up with electric also, and the minute I got ahold of a gas stove for the first time, it was just amazing. "Wow, I turn it on, and I don't have to wait for the heating element to heat up? That's unreal!"

to leave a big crater they would have to be a lot bigger. to leave a decent crater they would have to be like a meter in diameter.
the meteor crater in arizona was made by a meteor of 50 meters in diameter to give you an example.

My money is on boiler explosion, with fire resulting from collateral gas line ruptures.

EDIT: The ideal stoichiometric ratio for a devastating natural gas explosion falls within a very narrow band. A boiler explosion on the other hand is a different monster, which requires only the failure of the pressure relief valve on the exploding boiler. Once the boiler tank ruptures, the water will flash boil with predictable consistency and devastation. (and if it's a gas heated boiler, it's immediately coupled with a gas line rupture, causing the initial explosion to be a fiery one).

Given the size of the houses in that neighborhood, I would imagine they have relatively large water heaters, which could make for quite an explosion.

Insurance fraud Gone very wrong?

Originally Posted by Sayl

The idiocy in that thread is really painful.

It seems that there are some very strange things here, the home at the center, the people were conveniently not at home for the weekend, the cat was placed in a shelter, they are/were in deep financial trouble, the bodies of the people next door were found buried in debris in their basement, the boom could be heard from 15 miles away, homes at the end of the block were blown 3 feet off their foundations, people reported strange lighting in the sky before the blast, and the smell of sulfur after, the gas mains checked out fine, no explosive residue, the debris field show broken branches pointing up, and there is the lack of furniture in the field. Beside the strange things, the only logical explanation that I can come up with, is insurance fraud gone very wrong, they did too good of a job filling the home with gas to collect the insurance.

It seems that there are some very strange things here, the home at the center, the people were conveniently not at home for the weekend, the cat was placed in a shelter, they are/were in deep financial trouble, the bodies of the people next door were found buried in debris in their basement, the boom could be heard from 15 miles away, homes at the end of the block were blown 3 feet off their foundations, people reported strange lighting in the sky before the blast, and the smell of sulfur after, the gas mains checked out fine, no explosive residue, the debris field show broken branches pointing up, and there is the lack of furniture in the field. Beside the strange things, the only logical explanation that I can come up with, is insurance fraud gone very wrong, they did too good of a job filling the home with gas to collect the insurance.

the cops are investigating it as a homicide now, so i imagine your scenario is running through a lot of people's minds now. kind of wondering if the owners are going to do a disappearing act soon

the cops are investigating it as a homicide now, so i imagine your scenario is running through a lot of people's minds now. kind of wondering if the owners are going to do a disappearing act soon

I was thinking this since day one. Who boards a cat for a weekend? You put out a bowl of food and a bowl of water and you are good to go with cats since they poop in a box. Who travels when there are local casinos? Great to find out they were indeed way behind on their mortgage payments (yet were at a casino gambling, yay for responsible homeowners). The motive is there, all the circumstances fit down to them boarding their family pet. Its a shame people got killed and it caused millions and millions in damage they won't be responsible for if they are found guilty.

I was thinking this since day one. Who boards a cat for a weekend? You put out a bowl of food and a bowl of water and you are good to go with cats since they poop in a box. Who travels when there are local casinos? Great to find out they were indeed way behind on their mortgage payments (yet were at a casino gambling, yay for responsible homeowners). The motive is there, all the circumstances fit down to them boarding their family pet. Its a shame people got killed and it caused millions and millions in damage they won't be responsible for if they are found guilty.

yeah, i see a discovery channel show in the making on this one. id like to think that it was in fact just bad luck, but it really is looking like shenanigans. i dont see a good ending to this one

'Twas a cutlass swipe or an ounce of lead
Or a yawing hole in a battered head
And the scuppers clogged with rotting red
And there they lay I damn me eyes
All lookouts clapped on Paradise
All souls bound just contrarywise, yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!

Well if it was intentional I hope they get put away for a long long time.

Sir Robin, the Not-Quite-So-Brave-As-Sir-Lancelot.
Who had nearly fought the Dragon of Angnor.
Who had almost stood up to the vicious Chicken of Bristol.
And who had personally wet himself, at the Battle of Badon Hill.

Sure, and there's a criminal investigation underway. I stand by my earlier statement though regarding the ATS thread -- anyone who thinks a solar flare or geomagnetic storm can cause a house to explode just makes me weep for the state of science education.

Three people charged in a gas explosion that devastated an Indianapolis neighborhood deliberately set up the deadly blast to collect a big insurance payout, authorities said Friday.

The home's owner, Monserrate Shirley; her boyfriend, Mark Leonard; and his brother, Bob Leonard, were arrested Friday and charged with murder, arson and other counts in the Nov. 10 blast that killed two people.

Shirley, 47, was facing mounting financial woes, including $63,000 in credit card debt and worsening bankruptcy proceedings, court documents say. And a friend of Mark Leonard's told investigators Leonard said he had "lost a ton of money" — about $10,000 — at a casino some three weeks before the explosion.

Investigators believe the trio had actually tried but failed to blow up Shirley's home the weekend before the successful timed explosion, according to Marion County Prosecutor Terry Curry. The fiery blast destroyed five homes, including Shirley's, and caused widespread damage to dozens of others in the Richmond Hill subdivision in the far south side of the city.

Sigh.

(P.S.: Maybe the thread title could be updated to something more appropriate.)